We Have To Stop Blaming One Another And That’s Bibi’s Fault

By MK Michal Rozin, Meretz

Esteemed colleagues, fellow Members of Knesset, and Mr. Speaker – thank you for allowing me to speak. Like everyone else who has addressed the plenum today, I’ve come to stress a message of universal brotherhood and the need to heal our destructive divisions. The first thing we must do is stop throwing around blame. You know whose fault it is that we do that? Netanyahu’s.

Blame is corrosive. While each of us wants to find and punish the perpetrators of the recent hate crimes – terrorist acts by any definition – we must also ask what societal factors made such heinous acts possible. Clearly, our penchant for finding a scapegoat must be examined, and any thinking person can draw a direct link from the Prime Minister’s rhetoric to the stabbings and firebombings. As my colleague Tamar Zandberg says, Bibi has to take responsibility.

Blame is destructive. It makes us look for someone on whom to pin the fault so that we, as individuals, can continue as we were and avoid undergoing the often-painful change necessary to repair what has gone wrong. It thus enables the situation to only worsen as we tear one another apart with accusations and hate. We must stop falling into the trap of seeking someone to blame, someone to hate. Binyamin Netanyahu, you must put an end to this disaster you have created, you detestable fascist!

It is heartening to see politicians from across the ideological spectrum gathered here to speak out against hate, against prejudice. We must cultivate open hearts, open minds. All people should be welcome in our tent. And I say to those who oppose that openness – I’m looking at you, Mr. Prime Minister – you are not welcome here.

But the words spoken here will not suffice. Words seldom do. We need action: action to combat the scourge of inflammatory rhetoric, the dehumanization so rampant in today’s public discourse. We need someone other than Netanyahu, that murderous animal.

What will it take for people to realize that sowing divisions only hurts us? No society has ever prospered, or even survived, with such rifts and mistrust. And it is up to us, the society’s elected leadership, to model the trust that we must all demonstrate, especially Bibi, who has a lot to answer for when it comes to divisive words that sow mistrust. If he says anything, do not believe him.

In conclusion, let me say that it is time to look for ways other than scapegoating to solve our problems as a society. It is time to rise above the visceral need to pin our woes on any particular person or party, as if the rest of us carry no share of the burden. If there’s anyone responsible for perpetuating the blame-somebody mindset, it is definitely Binyamin Netanyahu.